In October of 2005 tour operator Vance Cabral and tour guide Mark Anthony Tucker took ten tourists from Placencia on an ill-fated dive trip that resulted in the death of American Abigail Brinkman - and now the police say Tucker and Cabral belong in jail.
Brinkman was one of four divers who were lost at sea for 55 hours during the weekend of October 23rd after (See: Tourists Lost at Sea in Placencia Dive Disaster) the boat's Engine failed. Cabral had no license to operate a tour, no radio and no backup engine. He was originally charged for operating without a tour operator license but those charges were later struck out.
And so this week, 13 months later, Vance Cabral and Mark Anthony Tucker were charged criminally for their role in the diving disaster. Yesterday Cabral was arraigned on ten counts of negligent endangerment of life while Tucker was charged on four counts of negligent endangerment to life, but they didn't make it past arraignment. Because it happened 13 months ago, Magistrate Patrck Rosado struck out the charges because they are non-indictable matters and, under the law, non-indictable charges have to be filed within six months of an incident.
7NEWS has however confirmed that the police plan to re-file charges on both men. That is because, negligent endangerment to life can also be tried in the Supreme Court. It is a rare charge, referring to when the captain of a boat negligently causes harm or negligently endangers the lives of his passengers. The maximum time in prison for those convicted of the charge is 2 years.
If the case goes forward, police expect that Cabral and Tucker will go on trial after the decision of a coroner's inquest into the death of Abigale Brinkman.
Both Tucker's and Cabral's licenses to conduct and guide tours were expired at the time of the incident. The Belize Tourism Board later suspended the licenses indefinitely, we were told at the time. But today Anthony Mahler, the Deputy Director of the BTB told us that Cabral and Tucker can reapply for licenses to guide and operate tours.
